briefing with a number of governors from virginia, maryland, delaware, and other states. he then spoke with reporters. >> keep up the good work. appreciate it. keep it up. >> good afternoon, everyone. obviously, obviously all of the -- all the start -- across the country are concerned about the potential impact of hurricane sandy. my first message is to all people across the eastern seaboard, the midlantic going north. you need to take this very seriously and follow the instructions of your state and local officials, because they are going to be providing you with the best advice in terms of how to deal with this storm over the coming days. we just had an excellent meeting with the team here, the various agencies in charge, including the department of defense, the department of energy, and others that will need to respond very quickly. we have had a chance to talk to regional officials as well. i just had a phone call with the governors of the potentially impacted states and cities in the region. at this stage everyone is confident that the staging process, the positionin